The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee is celebrating its 30th anniversary this week. The IEEE 802 LMSC was created in March of 1980 to develop interoperable network standards for computers and office equipment.
The IEEE 802 committee has continued to develop leading innovations for local and metropolitan area networks for copper, fiber optic media, and wireless technologies for local, regional, and personal network applications.
“From the local coffee shop to the International Space Station, the standards produced by the IEEE 802 committee dramatically influence our everyday lives and will continue to do so,” said Paul Nikolich, Chairman of IEEE 802.”
IEEE 802 began with the novel idea of creating a Local Area Network standard for shared local communications among multiple vendor devices. Inspired by the creation of the High-level Data Link Control Standard and the Xerox Ethernet product, the IEEE 802 committee went on to create a family of network standards.
The 802 portfolio has expanded to more than 100 innovative standards encompassing a wide variety of existing and emerging technologies and applications, including:
- Local Area Networks (e.g. Ethernet, Token Ring, etc.)
- Wireless Local Area Networks (e.g., Wi-Fi)
- Wireless Personal Area Networks (e.g., Bluetooth, Zigbee)
- Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (e.g., WiMAX)
- Mobile Broadband Access Networks
- Wideband Wireless Small Area Networks
- Wireless Regional Area Networks
- Mesh Networks
- SmartGrid Networks
“It is estimated that greater than 98% of all Internet traffic crosses one or more IEEE 802 networks during its transmission. IEEE 802 standards are undeniably an essential foundation of today’s networked world,” said Patricia Thaler, Vice-Chair, IEEE 802.
A series of events is planned, including the unveiling of a retrospective of 802 standards from inception to present day, and the publication of an anthology of insights from distinguished business and industry leaders.
